Ireland has given us many fabulous musicians over the years. Among them are luminaries such as U2, Van Morrison, Enya, Thin Lizzy, The Cranberries, and of course Sinéad O’Connor. Today, I read in The Wall Street Journal about another Irish band called Bell X1 (X one and not eleven) about to release their first album in the United States. This album, called Flock, was first released in Ireland in 2006 and went on to become a multi-platinum selling one vaulting them to superstardom in the Emerald Isle. I had never heard of the band until today and curious, checked them out online. They sound awesome and are like a cross between Coldplay and Radiohead, if that’s even possible.
There are many of their songs on youtube (including some from Flock) but the following from an earlier album stood out for me. It’s called Tongue and is a high rocking number. Wear headphones if at work.
Filed under: Folk, Music, Rock — josercaldera @ 12:45 am
it’s been a while… anyways…
I was recently listening to all songs considered podcasts. They have a concert from Iron and Wine, which is great. I didn’t know much about them (really him - Sam Beam) until I got one of the demo cds in one of the music magazines I am subscribed to. I really enjoyed his track: “Boy with a Coin”, from his latest album release: “The Shepherd’s Dog” late in 2007.
The lyrics are a bit sad, but I love this verse:
” A girl with a bird she found in the snow
then flew up her gown and that’s how she knows
that God made her eyes for crying at birth
Then left the ground to circle the Earth”
Spoon’s latest album is even better than their last one Gimme Fiction. They have a very unique-their own style. I really like how their use the piano in the background of their songs. Their lyrics keep being superb; KUDOS to them.
I could talk more about this album, but every review I’ve read so far will give you better insight than I can.
I wasn’t born then (no, really) but the summer of 1967 came to be known as the “Summer of Love.” This was when young people looking for a new social experience descended in droves to San Francisco, especially the Haight-Ashbury district and gave birth to the hippie counterculture movement. It was a time for free sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. No one embodied that time better than bad girl rocker Janis Joplin. Joplin and a bunch of other rock stars of the time including guitar legend Jimi Hendrix and incomparable beauty Grace Slick lived near Haight-Ashbury. Even today, you can see the remnants of those hippie days while strolling down the district with its motley collection of tattoo parlors, bong selling joints, and tie-dye clothing shops.
In today’s Journal, frequent hunter and washed-up rocker Ted Nugent opines [subscription] that this time should be re-classified as the summer of drugs. The Motor City Madman has choice words for the likes of Joplin: “I often wonder what musical peaks they could have climbed had they not gagged to death on their own vomit.” He also weighs in on what the hippies did to themselves: “Turned off by the work ethic and productive American Dream values of their parents, hippies instead opted for a cowardly, irresponsible lifestyle of random sex, life-destroying drugs and mostly soulless rock music that flourished in San Francisco.”
Soulless rock music? For someone who mostly delivered crappy music, the Nuge shouldn’t be the one judging that. Drugs or not, the music of Joplin and co still incites passions in every rock music fan. It’d be easy for me to dig up a nice performance by Joplin on youtube to accompany this post but instead, I’ll leave you with one of the best covers of Joplin’s songs ever performed: by soul wunderkind Joss Stone and a bald but fabulous Melissa Etheridge at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
I love to hear rock music (especially the hard variety) sung in languages I don’t really understand. I never understood what Ozzy, Dickinson, or Hetfield were gabbing about anyway. So why not enjoy the feeling of exotica listening to hard shit sung in languages all over the tower?
I have tried to educate y’all about Mallu rock before but I should also mention some other international superstars in the genre of rock music that I really dig (all music links below courtesy of youtube.com):
Ciu Jian from China whom I was fortunate enough to see live (opening for Deep Purple no less!)
In the last episode of HBO’s Entourage the first song stuck in my head. The band is called “The Rosewood Thieves” and the song played in the episode is “Los Angeles”. The band is fairly new, having only one album From the Decker House. There is little information about these guys. The best source I found here.
The release album has only six songs, and you can here four of them at their myspace page. They are all good. I’ve just ordered the album, tell you more after I get it.
Costello Music is The Fratellis first album and ever since I heard the first song I haven’t been able to get it off my head. This has to be one of the catchiest albums I’ve heard in my life. Everything started because the last issue of Filter magazine, brought along a CD with the Flathead song, which is excellent. The song seemed familiar, googleing-it I found that it was iPod’s latest song. Then I stop by their myspace page, couple of songs later, I needed to get the CD… so I did.
Keeping the distances, I’d swear they sound very similar to The Beatles. The album is really good and as I mentioned is incredibly catchy. The energy of their songs reminded me of California based band Save Ferris, which came and went. I Can’t tell yet about their lyrics, haven’t gotten that far.
I leave you with a couple of songs that aren’t in their myspace page. Also, I put Save Ferris’ version on Come on Eileen, wichs is one of the songs I like the most from them. The original is from Dexy’s Midnight Runners. I like better Save Ferris’ version.
This is the opening song to Bloc Party’s new album “Weekend in the City“. Strong second album, dare I say better than their first one “Silent Alarm“, which was already pretty good. Lyrics trhoughout are excellent but Song for Clay’s along with Uniform’s stand out not only for the lyrics but because they go extremely well with the music. Certainly a sense of indiference and apathy of the current generation. It feels like Nirvana lyrics, guarding the distance of course. Great album!
I can say enough of this album by indie rock band Califone. Roots & Crowns is their last album, and it is so good!. It is an album to relax and enjoy, it is not quite your usual rock album, and most definetly not your indie rock album either. It reminds me a bit Galaxie 500 album On Fire. Interesting and so good to sit down in the couch and just listen (not that I can do that very often given the two kids).
As I’ve learned by now this band has put out several records, and apparently a bit darker and different than this one. I am gonna have now to listen to their previous albums and see if they are any good.
The word “refrito” means re-fried. This in my home country when referred to an album, a movie, or even a TV show means that it doesn’t have anything new but rather is the same as before with some small differences. This is the case of the latest The Killers album: Sam’s Town.
The thing with this album is that the refrito comes from many other bands which makes it at least an interesting refrito. The opening track, homonime to the title of the album, opens like Rush, to follow like Eurythmics, and continue like Muse, with some of Genesis at the end; and this is only the first track. Moving on we hear some Elton John, Queen, David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, and many more. I thought about given a breakdown per song, but I’d be here for a while.
So… I am on the fence on this one, I still can’t decide whether I like it or not. The problem is that every time an arrangement comes along it reminds of somebody else’s music. The good news is that I like most of the other ones, so it makes the album likeable. At least the voice of the guy is somewhat new.
